Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Inc.

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Inc., a Milwaukee-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, functions as a federal grant recipient delivering sustainable agriculture technical assistance, conservation education, and farmer support services to the Department of Agriculture and its constituent agencies. The organization operates as a prime recipient on 67% of recent awards and as a sub-recipient on 33%, competing exclusively in federal grant programs rather than federal contracts.

The institute's customer footprint concentrates entirely within the Department of Agriculture. The top five USDA funding entities account for 81% of awards by count: the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (13 awards), the Agricultural Research Service (12 awards), the National Resources Conservation Service (6 awards), ARS's Central Program Planning Coordination and Support function (2 awards), and the Office of Advocacy and Outreach (1 award). No single agency dominates by potential value; the portfolio is distributed across multiple USDA program offices and sub-agencies serving distinct but complementary missions within sustainable and regional food systems.

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute holds nine prime federal grants active or recently closed. Representative work includes a $703,714 three-year Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers grant (CFDA 10.443) from USDA's Office of Advocacy and Outreach (awarded September 2024, completion September 2027) to provide entrepreneurship and marketing training to BIPOC, immigrant, and veteran farmers in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois; a $1,099,834 five-year Soil and Water Conservation cooperative agreement (CFDA 10.902) from the National Resources Conservation Service (awarded September 2022, completion September 2027) supporting the Wisconsin Women in Conservation project to increase conservation technical assistance and resources for women landowners; a $746,424 three-year Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program grant (CFDA from NIFA) awarded September 2021 for a food-grade grain farmer mentorship program supporting 30 beginning farmers (one-third women) through monthly programming, farmer-buyer networking, and direct-market development; and a $440,406 Farm to School Grant (CFDA 10.575) from USDA's Child Nutrition Division (awarded May 2026, completion June 2028) supporting local food procurement for school meals, school gardens, agricultural education curriculum integration, and producer training across Midwestern schools.

The institute functions as a sub-recipient on fourteen federal grant awards, collaborating with academic and nonprofit prime recipients including the University of Wisconsin System, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, Marbleseed Inc., and the Wisconsin Department of Administration. Sub-recipient work centers on applied agronomic research, conservation policy analysis, and field trials supporting sustainable and climate-smart agriculture practices — hemp production systems, cover crop management, managed grazing adoption barriers, and food-grade grain economics and market development.

Award activity shows volatility: seven awards in 2021, three in 2022, ten in 2023, one in 2024, and two in 2026, with only one award (combined potential value not specified in the source) facing recompete within the next twenty-four months. The organization's combined dollars obligated across all awards totals $8.2 million against a combined potential value of approximately $15,000, indicating substantial historical funding relative to current pipeline visibility. Michael Fields Agricultural Institute's capability portfolio addresses farm entry barriers, conservation adoption, soil health, regional food-system development, and support for underserved farmer populations (women, BIPOC, veterans, immigrants) across the Upper Midwest, with particular depth in organic and climate-smart grain production.